Laguna Honda Patient Gift Fund

The patients at Laguna Honda endure a life stripped down to the barest conditions. They are some of the city’s poorest residents – many are severely disabled or nearing the end of their lives. They live in the hospital’s open wards and own very little. Small comforts such as buying a soda from the hallway vending machine can be impossible with no money. That’s where the Patient Gift Fund comes in.

Donors give to improve the daily lives of the patients with such things as a candy bar, a pair of slippers, a small TV set or a bus trip to Crissy Field. But, using public records, the I-Team has confirmed the hospital administration has been spending ten of thousand of dollars on gourmet meals, airline tickets and other items – not on the patients.

Hospital Director Mivic Hirose ignored our phone calls for an interview. When we went to a town hall meeting to talk to her, the hospital’s Director of Community Relations Marc Slavin gave us some of the strangest treatment we’ve ever seen. We feature a clip in tonight’s report on ABC 7 News, but we wanted to stream the entire exchange to give you the full context. We’ll read every comment you leave.

This community relations director is scary as he does not understand boundaries. This would imply to me that he is the hospital's example of not honoring the boundaries of patients, the City's disenfranchised & most vulnerable, as well as funds.

Just to let you know their hands are all over the Patients like that as well like there their friends. I worked at LHH. Dr. Rivero is a saint and was very amazing to work with. Mivic and all her gang or cultural different sis have delineated the actual cultural of what LHH stands for Compassionate care for the POOR or less fortunate. That was a Town Hall? Where were the Patients? One was there and I'll bet it was a family member that brought them. Nursing in this facility is corrupt not Compassionate. They force the good People out just like Dr. Rivero Said. Marc Slavin should be fired he works for us it a Civil Servant Job. That was extremely Creepy.

I think the doctors probably right, that most staff did not realize that this was going on, and thought the gift fund was going to the patients. But what is up with the Community Relations Department at that place? He is their Spokesperson? Yikes...

Hey a nice Tort. I hope the DA of SF was watching this in action. Dan go get em!

Hey stupid Slavin do you not understand you cannot put your hands on another especially if they say no. Slavin, you should be sued you idiot. I can only hope the wimpy DA of SF will also file criminal charges.

The angels are obvious in this piece and kudos go to them. As for the devils, fire the lot of them and take the funds out of their paychecks and get those victims in this to meeting their basic needs. Slavin is pursuing a job in slavery. I cant stand people like Slavin, yuck.

I've never actually seen this done before, but speaking as former corporate PR person, it's pretty apparent what Marc's plan was. Basically he wanted to piss the reporter off to give him the pretext to cancel the meeting because the reporter and cameraperson were being disruptive. Breathtakingly slimy.

I can see at least one hospital director and one PR creep that need to be fired! (Maybe other people, too, once this situation is understood.) How do such losers get these jobs? Probably great pay and benefits, too.

It is extremely sad that Laguna Honda has people like Mivic Hirose and Marc Slavin even working there, let alone running things. Each day that San Francisco allows the patients there to be subjected to the likes of these two people causes the City to become less civilized. Marc Slavin, in particular, should be immediately confined to a mental institution. He has some serious mental problems. He clearly poses a threat to the rest of us.

I find the Reporter more at fault and even annoying.
I found it low that the reporter by the first minute was unable to control himself that you even needed to use language that was silenced out. He appeared as the confrontational one. Despite him being touched, he should of controlled his temper.

You'd think that as a reporter he would be socially capable to associate with all type of people. I do believe he got played. He looked like the disturbance, grabbing attention in a manner that made other want him to leave. If he would of been the calm patient one, the tides would turn.

Strangers can touch one another. Too bad he lives such a secluded life.

It is very obvious that "Marc" was trying to come up with a reason to cancel the meeting. He went way beyond just a casual touch. He continued to violate personal space after being repeatedly asked to stop. It was done with the intention to irritate, control and violate, as well as to disregard another's personal rights and reasonable requests.

He should be fired.

Furthermore, he acts like he is involved in the scam/fraud and is actively participating in the cover up.

Business as usual in DPH. Mivic Hirose $201,400.57, Marc Slavin earned $132,518.79 in 2009. Its true whistle blowers are outed and managers live in the inner sanctum. Cut and screw around with the CNA'a jobs and salaries all the while protected from unmonitored abuse towards front line workers and those who are not part of our clique. When will they be held accountable?

MEMO
To: All Staff
From: Mivic Hirose, Executive Administrator Re: KGO TV and the Laguna Honda Gift Fund
Date: May 20, 2010 I want to let you know that ABC-7 (KGO-TV) may air a story on its 6 pm newscast tonight alleging mismanagement of the Laguna Honda gift fund. The story is a distortion of the facts. The gift fund has two uses. It is used to provide amenities for residents and to provide support for staff. The gift fund is a collection of several accounts the hospital maintains to accept donations from staff, volunteers, and other contributors. For example, the gift fund staff account pays for our annual employee bar-b-que, meals at staff retreats, and small thank-you gifts such as our Nurse Week pedometers. Resident amenities provided by the gift fund include things such as mariachis for Cinco de Mayo, lion dancers for Chinese New Year, string quartettes, bands, the karaoke machine, snacks and refreshments. The gift fund also pays for bus trips by residents, including outings to the movies, the deYoung Museum, Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, the Berkeley Marina, the Exploratorium, dining out at restaurants, and subscriptions to periodicals. Channel 7 will reportedly allege that the hospital has reduced bus trips for residents while continuing to pay for meals at staff retreats. The allegation is a clear misrepresentation. First, the hospital has made no decision to reduce bus trips. We have on occasion combined half-empty bus trips, but there has been no across-the-board reduction. We will continue to schedule trips according to demand. Second, the staff and resident expenditures come from separate accounts within the gift fund, so expenditures for staff amenities do not reduce resident benefits – they have no effect on bus trips. We have much to celebrate at Laguna Honda. On Wednesday we passed our fourth state survey in a row with high marks. In June, we will cut the ribbon on the country’s most modern skilled nursing and rehabilitation center. We continue to provide outstanding care every day. Please know that the work you do is a credit to San
Francisco.
Thank you.

This is what happens when Dr. Mitch Katz continues his practice of appointing unqualified people to CEO positions rather than go through a recruitment and selection process to find the most qualified candidates for this important position. LHH has deteriorated under the last two of Dr. Katz's appointments. The buck stops there. Perhaps someone will now pay attention to what is happening at DPH.

If anything in Mivic's memo was the truth, she wouldn't have tried to dodge the reporter for a week and Marc wouldn't have tried to intimidate the reporter when he showed up. These two have been caught red-handed.

Journalism is very important to the public. It informs the public on all levels and allows the public to make their own personal opinion on information that has been confirmed and validated with the facts.

This is not an easy job, nor is it a job for everyone. It takes special people like Dan and his camera crew to try to stick to the facts and ask direct questions of those who are involved in the subject.

If those being question choose not to be interviewed, or refuse to comment....they leave the public to only assume they are guilty. Dan politely introduced himself and clearly made it known why he was there and did his best to get some answers to some serious questions the public is asking. She choose to defer Dan to Mark... Where Mark went wrong was by repeatedly touching Dan after Dan requested him to not touch him. Mark obviously has issues with communication that he felt he must get his point across by violating and controlling another human being to get his point across.

If Mark touched me after I had asked him to stop many times, I think I would have immediately called the police.

I remember a time a male co-worker helped me with a time sensitive piece and I was thrilled he finalized it quickly with such class. To thank him, I gave him a simple hug of thanks. It was quick and innocent....he asked me not to touch him(he was mad). I realized at that time, I had violated his space and I apologized immediately. I wasn't stupid to do it again. What is wrong with you Mark? Not everyone in this world is raised to express through touch. There are times that even touching someone can violate a religious belief. We must all respect each other and ask for permission....just as Dan did when he first introduced himself to her and put out his hand for her to shake....she returned the nice gesture by placing her hand in his. Dan never touched her....he allowed her to come to him in touch.

Mark needs to be fired and sent to counseling to find the underlining issues he may have from his past. I would hate to think how he communicates with elderly patients....can you imagine?.....a elderly patient asking for help and having Mark touch them repeatedly on their body and ignoring the questions or concerns of the patients by passive pats on their body? Geez, Mark....you need some help!